The “Married to the Music” Top | Sarah Gabbart

The Facts Fabric: 1.5 yards of red cotton broadcloth from stash, about $2 a yard from Jo Ann'sPattern: Sorbetto Top – free from Colette Patterns!Year: c. 2011Notions: noneTime to complete: Less than an hour – from cutting to wearing it!First worn: July 2011Wear again? Yes!

Total Cost: ~$3

I am married to a musician. As a result, my life is filled with music – whether I like it or not! On most evenings you can hear the sounds of pug snores, trombones, a piano and some random guitar strumming in addition to the whir of my sewing machine. Life in the Gabbart house is good – noisy, but good.

Then I found this lovely cover of a Dave Brubeck album that features a beautiful woman leaning over his piano in a bright red dress. Bingo! I decided to use this elegant lady as inspiration for my top, opting to make a piece that could integrate into my wardrobe instead of a "once every few years" red dress. I am so happy that I did – I LOVE this top. Love it!

The top was very simple to make – as Colette Patterns often are – and happens to be FREE. Yes ma'am – totally gratis. I omitted the front pleat and added a simple neck bow by cutting a 6" X 44" piece of fabric, folding it in half and stitching one side. I flipped it right side out, ironed it and sewed it to the neckine instead of bias binding (tip" sew them wrong sides together and then flip over the neckline to create the folded over effect!). Voila!

I love having so much music in my life – before I met Ryan, it was rare that I would explore anything outside of Top 40 radio. Now I hear new music and enjoy it as part of our time together – thanks honey!

SO disappointed you didn’t go with the Miles Davis pants! My disappointment didn’t last long though, I LOVE this top – it is so gorgeous and suits you perfectly. A 1hr, $3 pretty top is a win on all counts. I would love Ryan to collaborate with Tex to create a pug-snore trombone masterpiece. Ah, the trombone. I played it for 4-5 years… but it was the spit valve that got me in the end. You have a beautiful, creative, musically puggely life :)

jazzjazzjazzjazz i LOVE jazz! you are so very lucky. and that top is gorg. i’m so inspired by your choice to make a staple rather than a once every couple years dress– i mean, that’s going to give you happiness like once a week!

Thanks lady! It was so so easy too – seriously, just a fold over and stitch on situation! Make sure you offset where the bow is going to be if you want it to the side like mine, if you make it even you will have a giant bow smack in the middle! Actually, I might make the next one with a wider collar and the bow in the back!

Thanks lady! It was so so easy too – seriously, just a fold over and stitch on situation! Make sure you offset where the bow is going to be if you want it to the side like mine, if you make it even you will have a giant bow smack in the middle! Actually, I might make the next one with a wider collar and the bow in the back!

LOL! I love those pants too – they remind me of some crazy pajama pants my husband has called “America Pants” (our nickname) – they have tiny American flags on them! I salute him when he walks into the room with them on.
Ewww spit valve – I learned my lesson that those when I picked up a handtowel from the floor and was yelled at “NOOOO! THAT”S SPIT!” I think I died a little that day. Spit rag – in my house!! Get it outta here trombone man!
PS: Tex is literally snoring right this second and Ryan is playing the trombone, so holy moly you are on to something with this combo… :O)

Thanks Ooona! I love that we have a music house – and that I have a live in music curator. And yess! That is exactly what I was thinking – I can wear a bright red shirt to work with jeans and be happy OORRR wear this to the one fancy party I attend a year. It was an easy decision!

About the Sew Weekly

The Sew Weekly began as Mena Trott's attempt to document the process of sewing all of her own clothes in 2010. In 2011, four other contributors (Debi Fry, Adey Lim, Veronica Darling & Sarah Gabbart) joined her and for 52 weeks, they sewed based on a particular weekly theme. In 2012, The Sew Weekly became a much larger group blog with over 130 contributors sewing along each week.